Louise Ann Lyon, PhD

Louise Ann Lyon, PhD

Senior Research Associate

Biography

Louise Ann (“Lou Ann”) Lyon, PhD, Senior Research Associate, brings industry experience in the software engineering workplace as well as research knowledge from Learning Sciences and Feminist Studies to her work on diversifying technology at postsecondary institutions and in the workplace. Dr. Lyon is currently Principal Investigator on two National Science Foundation funded projects. “Boot Camp or University Classroom? Preparing Women and Underrepresented Minorities for the Software Development Workforce” is a collaborative project with Dr. Quinn Burke at the College of Charleston that looks at the training provided at coding boot camps and to university computing majors and alignment with workforce needs. “Informal Learning in Computer Science: Social and Conceptual Factors Related to Women’s Persistence” is a project to study pathways to computer science for women who are teaching themselves to code motivated by current job needs or improved employment opportunities.

Dr. Lyon received her PhD in Learning Sciences with a graduate certificate in Feminist Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, while a member of the Institute of Technology faculty at the University of Washington, Tacoma. Prior to her work in academia, Dr. Lyon was employed as a software engineer, creating user interfaces for high-end video and distance-learning products subsequent to obtaining a MS in Computer Science from California State University, Chico.

Current Projects

Informal Learning in Computer Science: Social and Conceptual Factors Related to Women’s Persistence

Boot Camp or University Classroom? Preparing Women and Underrepresented Minorities for the Software Development Workforce

The Digital NEST: Building Pathways to Computing Education and Careers for Latino/a Youth

Lyon, L. A. (2012). Gender, race, class, and culture in computer science: An in-depth look at three women choosing a major. Research on Women and Education (RWE), Coeur d’Alene, ID.

Lyon, L .A. (2012). Finding her way into computer science: A case study at the intersection of gender and ethnicity. Fifth Annual Inter-Science of Learning Center Student and Post-Doc Conference, San Diego, CA.